Memoirous

In five years I’ve gone from never having a garden—in fact, saying I’m NOT a gardener—to having a garden several years in a row. It all began out in Oregon with my millennial roommate who, using his Amazon account, ordered in a bunch of stuff for making a garden. He knew nothing. I sort of felt sorry for how naïve he was. I kept thinking: This isn’t going to be easy. You’ll be disappointed. It’s going to fail. Well, it didn’t. I thought, How can someone grow anything when they’ve never done it before? That’s when I became a believer. My first year in Michigan at the townhouse, I did veggies in pots—first in the back yard and then moving them to the front where there was more direct sunlight. My first two years at the Tiny House my garden did so-so. Come to find out all the trees in Michigan can put a damper on the garden. This year I planned even better and built raised beds along a section behind the shed and the neighbor’s fence, where there is no tree obstruction. Wow! Wow...

 July is almost over. If you'd like to order any of my books go on over to  Type in my name to see the list of titles on offer. https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chicagojane

 A piece I wrote ages and ages ago was recently accepted by Switch Microfiction .  Circa 1984 Some of you might remember the No Exit Cafe off the Morse El stop. I'll let you all know when it's posted! 

I continually ask myself—Why? Why do I go on? Why do I harass myself by trying to write? Planning a hike to the Arctic Circle end of August (Kungsleden)? Sometimes all I want to do is stay in my comfort zone—out in the garden or in my Tiny House with a mug of tea. Then . . . I remember. As human beings we continually need to be challenged. I see what happens when people stop. When we park as close to the store entrance as possible and get out of the car and minimize our steps and daily encounters. We shrivel up and lose mobility and become less interesting. Psychologically we suffer as well as physically. Yet—it’s so easy to give in to this temptation. I’ve been struggling with this so much lately. To be honest, I’m scared. And when this curtain falls over me, I know I must recover. Throw it off. Face my fears. Another admission: many of the things I fear or worry about are simply made up. Borrowed. Not necessarily the enemy at the front door. Though, equally as crushing. L...

I’m trying to not take any chances. On one hand the Kungsladen, at least the section I’m hiking, is not exactly wilderness. There are mountain huts situated every 6-9 apart, there is reindeer farming/farmers. It is a well-traveled section, so there is the likelihood of meeting/passing fellow hikers. What worries me is the weather—the Arctic circle, the chance for snow in August, wind and rain every day. I don’t want to die from hypothermia. So having the right equipment is necessary. Right and light. My pack is only 32 litres/volume. Whatever that is. I can tell you: No tent, no sleep pad, and no cooking set up. I’m taking my lightest, packable sleeping bag. I know, I know, I got the sleep quilt recently. But doing side-by-side comparisons, the stuffed sleeping bag takes up less space and the quilt needs the sleep pad in order to perform its best. I’ll be given a “mattress” at the hut and, therefore, will not need a Therma-rest. I also won’t need pots or stove/fuel as those are ...

My orchids bloomed at least once a year in Chicago—usually in March despite being situated on the inside of a courtyard window. Meaning: only direct sunlight mid-day. In Michigan they bloomed at my first apartment in Meridian Meadows. Since moving to the Tiny House=nada. This spring my daughter asked me why I continue to keep them if they weren’t doing anything. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on them! I did some necessary re-arranging; moving coat rack where the plant stand was and moving the plant stand by the French doors so that they could make use of the long afternoon sunlight. Besides my coats were beginning to breakdown and the colors fade from direct sunlight being by the door. It was a good move for these two reasons—to save the coats and help the plants. And, boy! The orchids immediately thanked me, by reviving. The orchid in the middle grew over 20 buds! Right now 4 have flowered. The rest are also sprouting new leaves and getting stronger. There is a life lesson her...

Summertime   City                                                          On Vacation   wake up to sirens                                     woken up by noisy birds   stuffy, recycled air                                   breathe deep, fill your lungs, fresh clean crisp   morning shower             ...

This is a terrible tragedy. One cannot help but feel sorry for those campers and the families who lost their children. It’s almost too much to bear. There was a similar storm and flood in July 31-August 1, 1976 , along the Big Thompson River in Colorado that killed about 114, some of which were Campus Crusade for Christ student staff at a camp. I remember this because my sister Nancy was involved with the group while in college and lost acquaintances in this disaster. The flood captured my imagination back then and I’d never forgotten it or another random flooding, this one intentional by the US Army Corp of Engineers, the damming of Caesar Creek and submersion of New Burlington, Ohio in order to create a recreational lake/reservoir. Anyway, I combined these two events from my memory to write a story. Actually, Big Thompson was a disaster of a story as I wrote it, lost it or erased it from computer, and then re-wrote it. Using resource and archived material I recreated the flood...

Drone Fireworks Show—a sign of the times I’d seen the signs—“Celebrate Meridian” Activities for the children, ice cream social, classic cars=all the things we’ve come to expect in small-town America. Drone fireworks show! Here’s something new. Actually this is the future. While on the West Coast all fireworks are prohibited, no one wants to risk forest fire. Drone firework shows at least offer an alternative. Much safer too. No chance of someone blowing off their hand. No undetonated ordinances for children to discover. Yet . . . I waited at my usual spot: beneath the lights at the bank drive-thru situated on elevated crowd. In past years I was able to see the exploding colors hurled above the tree-line. I waited and waited. It got dark, it got late. Still no boom to kick things off. I continued to read in my lawn chair. Then . . . It had started and I never knew—much like how electric cars can creep up on us without the rattle and hum of a motor to let us know they’re ther...

Recently, there’s been a dust-up in the publishing world: Controversy surrounding the successful memoir The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. It is one thing to use novelesque devices in order to pen a literary memoir. To cast an alter ego or stand-in for yourself. To write the memoir in third person. To change names to protect the identity of certain people. For clarity’s sake to eliminate characters or even to create a composite—as long as you alert the reader, such as in an introduction or disclaimer in the front matter. This is all acceptable. Real problems occur when one intentionally writes fiction and then tries to pass it off as memoir. When one writes in order to deceive then that writer has crossed a line. They not only harm their own reputation, but also break trust with their readers. Imposters such as James Frey with his A Million Little Pieces was intentional in his deception. Frank McCourt in Angela’s Ashes might have gone around a few curves in spinning his memoir—but ...

 Big Sale After spending nearly 2 months bringing all my titles up to date, I’m pleased to announce that at Smashwords you can buy my entire ebook/print book collection (OR ANY OF MY TITLES) for 50% off at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! You can find all my on-sale books at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/janehertenstein   #SWSale2025 #Smashwords In particular, if you are feeling the need for inspiration, there’s 365 Affirmations for the Writer. Here is a taste of what’s inside: July 8 Failure Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer. ― Ray Bradbury July 9 Keep Going Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. ― Maya Angelou July 10 Don’t Stop You must read, you must persevere, ...